Motor vehicle door brake which has an opening end stop and which is integrated in a hinge

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a motor vehicle door brake which has an opening end stop and which is integrated in a hinge. The hinge is comprised of two hinge halves which are interconnected in a jointed manner by means of a hinge pin. Said hinge halves can alternately engage with one of both door assembly parts, the door, or the door pillar. The hinge pin is connected to the first hinge half in a rotationally fixed manner and is accommodated in the hinge eye of the first hinge half in a rotational manner. In addition, the door brake comprises at least one engaging part which is supported against one of the hinge halves, and has at least one braking or stopping part. Said braking or stopping part is assigned to the engaging part and is supported against the other hinge half. The aim of the invention is to produce a door brake having a reduced number of individual parts and to obtain a smallest possible construction in which the application of high brake forces rise in an increasing manner over the door opening angle. To this end, the door brake is collectively comprised of at least one engaging part and of at least one braking surface. Said engaging part is radially aligned in relation to the hinge axis, is connected to one of the hinge halves in a rotationally fixed manner, and can be elastically deformed in a plane which is parallel to the hinge axis. Said braking surface is configured on the hinge pin and is limited by an end stop. The at least one braking surface which is configured on the hinge pin and which interacts with the engaging part slopes upward in the direction of the hinge axis.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention concerns a motor-vehicle door brake which isintegrated in a hinge and has an opening end stop, the hinge comprisingtwo hinge wings which are connected together in an articulated manner bymeans of a hinge pin and can be fixed alternately to one of the two doorassembly parts, door or door pillar, and the hinge pin being connectedin a rotationally secure manner to the one hinge wing and being heldrotatably in the gudgeon of the one hinge wing, and the door brakecomprising at least one engagement part which is supported against oneof the hinge wings, and also at least one braking or stop part which isassigned to the said engagement part and is supported against the otherhinge wing.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

For the purpose of braking and securing motor-vehicle doors in certainor random opening positions, use is conventionally made of door stopswhich are known and are customary in a multiplicity of embodiments. Inthis case, a first type of door stop which is combined structurally withthe door hinge is distinguished by the use of a torsion bar spring whichis bent in a C- or U-shape, is secured to the one hinge half or to acomparable part and interacts with a latching segment fastened to theother hinge half or to a comparable part, but irrespective of itsparticular embodiment is associated with the disadvantage that itsfunctioning parts are basically arranged such that they are exposed andtherefore can first of all be impaired in their efficiency by, albeitunintentional, coatings of paint during the painting of the bodywork,and furthermore during operation lead to contamination due tounavoidable abrasion and dirt.

All those types of door stops in which a holding part which is connectedto the one door assembly part is inserted into a holder housing fastenedto the other door assembly part are associated with the samedisadvantages, since here too at least the holding part has to bearranged such that it is exposed and is therefore naturally subjected tothe same adverse effects as the functioning parts of the so-calledtorsion-bar door stops.

A third known type of door stop combined structurally in particular withthe door hinge is distinguished by the fact that the holding parts arearranged in an extension of the hinge axis projecting over the doorhinge. Although, in door stops of this type, there is in principle theoption of covering the functioning parts of the door stop by anadditional component and therefore of eliminating some of thedisadvantages of the abovementioned types of door stops, thisnecessarily results in an increased outlay in terms of production andinstallation. In addition, all of these door-stop embodyments which areconnected to a door hinge require a considerable amount of space forfitting them in, which is not available in most cases of use.

Finally, a type of door stop integrated in a hinge is also alreadyknown, the said door stops as a whole comprising a cylinder housingwhich is connected in a rotationally secure manner to one of the doorassembly parts, a cylinder core which is accommodated in the cylinderhousing and connected in a rotationally secure manner to the other doorassembly part, and also at least one engagement part which is arrangedin a radially adjustable manner in the one part, cylinder housing orcylinder core. Although door stops designed in this manner andintegrated in a hinge are distinguished by a design which is small insize, and are virtually completely encapsulated, they are associatedwith the disadvantage of a relatively high outlay in terms ofproduction.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is based on the object of improving a door brakewhich can be integrated in a door hinge and a motor-vehicle door hingewhich is fitted with an integrated door brake to the effect that thedoor brake comprises a minimum number of parts irrespective of themaximum door-opening angle, and while high braking forces which riseincreasingly over the door-opening angle are applied, is, as a whole,designed such that it is as small in size as possible and also is of aclosed design such that neither the painting of the vehicle bodywork northe operation of the vehicle door or the functioning of the door brakecan result in abrasion of paint or dirt or an impairment of thefunctioning, and that furthermore a reliable opening end stop for thedoor is ensured.

According to the present invention, this object is may be achieved inthat the door brake as a whole comprises at least one engagement partwhich is arranged aligned radially with respect to the hinge axis, isconnected in a rotationally secure manner to one of the hinge wings, canbe deformed in a resiliently elastic manner in a plane parallel to thehinge axis and comprises at least one braking surface which is formed onthe hinge pin and is bounded by an end stop, the at least one brakingsurface which is formed on the hinge pin and interacts with theengagement part having a rising slope in the direction of the hingeaxis. This door brake is distinguished first of all by the fact that forit to be realized on a door hinge only one additional part, namely theengagement part, is required, and that furthermore very high brakingforces can be applied by using the ability of the engagement part todeform in a resiliently elastic manner. Since, in the case of the doorbrake designed according to the present invention, the braking forcesare applied and supported exclusively in the direction of the hingeaxis, a door brake of this type which is based on using the ability ofthe engagement part to deform in a resiliently elastic manner issuitable for use in conjunction with any type of door hinge, i.e. bothsingle-shear and double-shear door hinges. Moreover, the door brakeaccording to the present invention makes possible a wide range ofdifferent forms of development which can be matched on the one side tothe particular hinge shape or hinge type and on the other side can beconfigured in accordance with the required braking forces.

In a simple form of implementation which can be used in conjunction withany desired design form of a door hinge, it is provided that the atleast one braking surface which interacts with the engagement part,which can be deformed in a resiliently elastic manner, is formed by theone end surface of a radial recess formed in the hinge pin, the radialrecess in the hinge pin only extending over the permitted opening angleof the hinge. A motor-vehicle door brake of this type which ischaracterized by an exclusively axially acting design of the door-brakedevice can obviously also be realized in the case of a double-shear doorhinge and is advantageously furthermore characterized in that theengagement part is formed by an element which is held in a rotationallysecure manner and aligned radially with respect to the hinge pin on theone hinge wing and engages in the radial recess formed in the said hingepin and also can be deformed in a resiliently elastic manner in a planeparallel to the hinge axis.

In the case of a motor-vehicle door brake of the construction accordingto the present invention, in order to form an opening end stop of themotor-vehicle door, it is provided that the two flank surfaces of theengagement part are inclined in the same direction and uniformly towardsthe hinge axis in the region of the said engagement part which interactswith the braking surface formed in the hinge pin by the one end surfaceof the radial recess, and that in conjunction with such a design of theflank surfaces of the engagement part the opening end stop is formed bya boundary wall, which is directed radially with respect to the hingeaxis, of the radial recess, which is formed in the hinge pin.

Within the scope of a preferred embodiment of a motor-vehicle door brakeaccording to the present invention intended primarily for use inconjunction with a single-shear door hinge, it is provided that the doorbrake as a whole is arranged within the gudgeon height of the hinge wingwhich can be pivoted with respect to the hinge pin, and the engagementpart is held and supported in a pocket-like recess, which is alignedradially with respect to the hinge axis, of the pivotable hinge wing.

In order to obtain an optimum braking force with as small a constructionof the motor-vehicle door brake as possible, it is expediently providedthat the two end surfaces of the radial recess formed in the hinge pinare designed such that they rise in the axial direction of the hingeaxis and such that they converge towards each other in the door openingdirection in order to form two mutually opposite braking surfaces, andin that each of the two braking surfaces is assigned one end surface ofthe engagement part, the said end surface being adjustable in aresiliently elastic manner in a plane parallel to the hinge axis. With alinear and smooth-faced design of the end surfaces of the recess in thehinge pin, which end surfaces form the braking surfaces, this measureenables the obtaining of a high braking force which rises uniformly andcontinuously as the door-opening angle increases, without the requiredoverall size of the door brake being changed significantly as a result.

One design of the engagement part, associated with this form of designof the braking surfaces, is distinguished by the fact that theengagement part is formed by a one-piece, essentially tongue-shapedmoulded body which extends over the entire height of the radial recessin the hinge pin and which is provided with a slotted recess which isarranged centrally and is aligned in a plane running transversely to thehinge axis, so that its engagement regions interacting with the brakingsurfaces can be adjusted in a resiliently elastic manner. The engagementpart is therefore expediently designed such that it is essentiallyU-shaped, the outer flank surfaces of its profiled legs forming thebraking bodies which interact with the braking surfaces and as such inorder to apply the required braking force being deformed or deflected inthe opposite direction corresponding to the reduction in the height ofthe radial recess in the hinge pin, which reduction is caused by theconvergingly directed rising slope of the braking surfaces.

In the interests of integrating the door brake in the hinge to as largean extent as possible, in a further development of the presentinvention, it is expediently also provided that the pocket-like recessin the pivotable hinge wing, which recess holds the engagement part andis aligned radially with respect to the hinge axis, is closed by meansof a cover part, it being the case that a screw bolt assigned to thefastening of the cover part, said screw bolt simultaneously reachingthrough a hole recess in the engagement part.

In the case of a motor-vehicle door brake of the preferred embodiment,virtually completely wear-free and smooth running over the working lifeof the hinge and therefore of the door brake is essentially achieved bythe fact that the hinge bearing arrangement and the door brake arrangedtherein are provided with a one-off lifetime lubrication. According toan expedient individual development, a form of designing the door hingesuitable for ensuring such a lifetime lubrication makes provision that aradially projecting collar which fits over the open side of the gudgeonis formed in conjunction with a hood-like design of the gudgeon, fittingover the hinge pin, of that hinge wing on the hinge pin which can bepivoted with respect to the hinge pin and contains the engagement part,and that the gudgeon of the pivotable hinge wing, which gudgeon fitsover the hinge pin in a hood-like manner, is sealed by means of asealing washer which is inserted between its open end side and theradially projecting collar of the hinge pin.

However, in a modified form of designing the above-described, novel typeof motor-vehicle door brakes, which form is associated with obtainingnon-linearly rising braking forces for a motor-vehicle door brakeintegrated in a door hinge, it can also be provided that the twomutually opposite braking surfaces formed by the two end surfaces of theradial recess of the hinge pin have a discontinuous rising slopestarting from their end assigned to the closed position of the door andproceeding as far as their end assigned to the final opening position ofthe door.

Finally, an advantageous development of a door hinge provided with amotor-vehicle door brake according to the invention can also bedistinguished by the fact that the rotationally secure fixing of thehinge pin on the other hinge wing is assigned a gudgeon of the otherhinge wing, which gudgeon accommodates an associated longitudinalsection of the hinge pin, is of essentially hood-like design and isprovided with serrations, and that said rotationally secure fixing isalso assigned a screw which keeps the serrations in engagement andreaches through the end wall of the hood-shaped gudgeon.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is described in detail in the followingdescription of examples with reference to an exemplary embodimentillustrated in the drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a side view of a door hinge fitted with an integrated doorbrake;

FIG. 2 shows a plan view of a hinge according to FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows a longitudinal section through the hinge along the lineIII—III in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 shows a cross section through the door hinge along the line IV—IVin FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 shows a developed view of the plan view form of the radial recessin the hinge pin;

FIG. 6 shows a diagrammatic illustration of the profile of the brakingforces over the door-opening angle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the embodiment of a motor-vehicle door brake which is shown in theexemplary embodiment and is integrated in a door hinge, the door hingecomprises a first hinge half 1 which is to be fixed to the one doorassembly part, and a second hinge half 2 which is to be fixed to theother door assembly part, and also a hinge pin 3. In this case, thehinge pin 3 is braced against the bottom surface 5 of a gudgeon 6, ofoverall approximately cup-like design, of the hinge half 1 by means of ascrew bolt 4 reaching through the said hinge half 2. In order to connectthe hinge pin 3 to the hinge half 1 in a rotationally secure manner, thegudgeon 6 is provided on the inside with serrations and the hinge pin 3has a complementary profiling over part of its engagement length. Thedoor brake comprises an engagement part 8 which is arranged alignedradially with respect to the hinge axis 7, is fastened in a rotationallysecure manner in the hinge wing 2 and can be deformed in a resilientlyelastic manner in a plane parallel to the hinge axis 7, and two brakingsurfaces 10 and 11 which are formed on the hinge pin 3 and are boundedby an end stop 9, the braking surfaces 10 and 11, which are formed onthe hinge pin 3 and interact with the engagement part 8, being formed bythe mutually opposite end surfaces of a recess 12 in the hinge pin,which recess is made radially in the said hinge pin and is preferablyproduced by milling out, and each having, oppositely directed, a risingslope in the direction of the hinge axis 7. The oppositely directedrising slopes of the braking surfaces 10 and 11 are designed such thatthey converge linearly and smoothly starting from that end of the radialrecess 12 which is assigned to the closing position of the door andproceeding to that end of the radial recess 12 assigned to the maximumopening angle of the door, as can be seen in particular from theillustration of FIG. 5. In the embodiment shown of a motor-vehicle doorbrake, the opening end stop of the motor-vehicle door is configured insuch a manner that the two flank surfaces 13 and 14 of the engagementpart 8 are inclined in the same direction and uniformly towards thehinge axis 7. In conjunction with the flank surface 14, the opening endstop 9 determines the maximum permitted door-opening angle, and isformed by a boundary wall 15, directed radially with respect to thehinge axis 7, of the radial recess 12, which is formed in the hinge pin3. In the embodiment shown, the engagement part 8 is designed as asimple molded part, in particular a simple material blank, and isaccommodated and supported in a pocket-like recess 16, aligned radiallywith respect to the hinge axis 7, of the pivotable hinge wing 2. Theengagement part 8 has two engagement regions 17 and 18 which are eachassigned to one of the two braking surfaces 10 and 11 and can beadjusted in a resiliently elastic manner in a plane parallel to thehinge axis 7. In the embodiment shown, the engagement part 8 is formedby a one-piece, essentially tongue-shaped moulded body which extendsover the entire height of the radial recess 12 in the hinge pin 3 and isprovided with a slotted recess 19, which is arranged centrally and isaligned in a plane running transversely to the hinge axis 7, so that theengagement regions 17 and 18 of said engagement part, which interactwith the braking surfaces 10 and 11, can be adjusted in a resilientlyelastic manner. The pocket-like recess 16 of the pivotable hinge wing 2,which recess holds the engagement part and is aligned radially withrespect to the hinge axis 7, is closed by means of a cover part 20. Ascrew bolt 21 which is assigned to the fastening of the cover part 20 onthe end side of the hinge wing 2 at the same time reaches through a holerecess 22 in the engagement part 8. The gudgeon 23 of the hinge wing 2which can be pivoted with respect to the hinge pin 3 is of hood-likedesign and engages over the hinge pin 3. Furthermore, a radiallyprojecting collar 24 is formed on the hinge pin 3, the said collarengaging between the two gudgeons 6 and 23 of the two hinge wings 1 and2 and at which the open side 25 of the gudgeon 23 of the pivotable hingewing 2, which gudgeon engages over the hinge pin 3 in a hood-likemanner, is sealed by means of a sealing washer 26 inserted between itsopen end side 25 and the radially projecting collar 24 of the hinge pin3. The hinge bearing arrangement and the door brake arranged therein arefurthermore provided with a one-off lifetime lubrication which cannot beseen in detail from the drawing.

From the diagrammatic illustration, shown in FIG. 6, of the profile ofthe braking forces from the above-described embodiment of a door brake,which are applied over the door-opening angle, it can be seen inparticular that even when there is a linear and continuously anduniformly rising configuration of the rising slope of the two brakingsurfaces of the door brake, a superproportional rise in the brakingforces in the door-opening direction as the door-opening angle increasescan be achieved. Furthermore, the diagrammatic illustration shows thatthe braking forces applied by the door brake initially fall very rapidlyas the door is being closed from a maximum value assigned to the finalopening position of the door, which increases the ease of operating thedoor.

What is claimed is:
 1. A motor vehicle door brake which is integrated ina hinge and has an opening end stop, said hinge comprising a first hingewing, a second hinge wing and a hinge pin, wherein said first hinge wingis able to be fixed on one door assembly part selected from a door and adoor pillar, and wherein said second hinge wing being able to be fixedon the other of said door and said door pillar, said hinge pinconnecting said first and second hinge wings in an articulated mannerand defining a hinge axis, wherein said hinge pin is connected to thefirst hinge wing in a rotationally secure manner and wherein said hingepin is rotatably held in a gudgeon of the second hinge wing, whereinsaid hinge pin is provided with at least one braking surface, whereinsaid at least one braking surface is bounded by an end stop and has arising slope in direction of the hinge axis, said door brake comprisingan engagement part which is supported against and connected in arotationally secure manner to said second hinge wing, wherein saidengagement part is aligned radially with respect to the hinge axis andis able to be deformed in a resiliently elastic manner in a planeparallel to the hinge axis, and wherein said braking surface interactswith said engagement part.
 2. The motor vehicle door brake according toclaim 1, wherein the hinge pin has a radial recess, said radial recessonly extending over a permitted opening angle of the hinge, wherein saidat least one braking surface is formed by one out of two end surfaces ofsaid radial recess.
 3. The motor vehicle door brake according to claim2, wherein said engagement part is formed by an element and engages insaid radial recess formed in the hinge pin.
 4. The motor vehicle doorbrake according to claim 3, wherein the second hinge wing has apocket-like recess, the pocket-like recess being aligned radially withrespect to the hinge axis, said pocket-like recess accommodating andsupporting said engagement part, wherein the door brake as a whole isarranged within the gudgeon height of the second hinge wing.
 5. Themotor vehicle door brake according to claim 4, wherein said engagementpart which is accommodated in said pocket-like recess has a hole recess,and further comprising a screwbolt reaching through said hole recess,and a cover part, said cover part closing said pocket-like recess,wherein said screwbolt is assigned to the fastening of said cover part,said screwbolt simultaneously reaching through said hole recess.
 6. Themotor vehicle door brake according to claim 3, wherein said two endsurfaces of the radial recess formed in the hinge pin are designed suchthat they rise in the axial direction of said hinge axis and such thatthey converge towards each other in the door opening direction in orderto form two mutually opposite braking surfaces, and wherein each of thetwo braking surfaces is assigned to one out of two end surfaces of theengagement part, said two end surfaces of the engagement part beingadjustable in a resiliently elastic manner in a plane parallel to thehinge axis.
 7. The motor vehicle door brake according to claim 6,further comprising a discontinuous rising slope of each of said mutuallyopposite braking surfaces, said discontinuous rising slope starting fromthe respective end of said mutually opposite braking surfaces assignedto the closed position of the door and proceeding as far as theirrespective end assigned to the opening end position of the door.
 8. Themotor vehicle door brake according to claim 2, further comprising aboundary wall of said radial recess formed in the hinge pin, saidboundary wall being directed radially with respect to the hinge axis,wherein said opening end stop of the hinge is formed by said boundarywall.
 9. The motor vehicle door brake according to claim 2, furthercomprising a one-piece, essentially tongue-shaped molded body whichextends over the entire height of the radial recess formed in the hingepin, a slotted recess provided in said one-piece, essentiallytongue-shaped molded body, said slotted recess being arranged centrallyand being aligned transversely to the hinge axis, wherein saidone-piece, essentially tongue shaped molded body is forming saidengagement part and it also being the case, that the engagement regionsof said engagement part can be adjusted in a resiliently elastic mannerusing said slotted recess.
 10. The motor vehicle door brake according toclaim 1, further comprising two flank surfaces of the engagement part,said surfaces being inclined in the same direction and uniformly towardssaid hinge axis in a region of the engagement part which interacts withsaid at least one braking surface.
 11. The motor vehicle door brakeaccording to claim 1, further comprising a hood-like design of saidgudgeon of said second hinge wing, said gudgeon fitting over the hingepin using said hood-like design, and a radially projecting collar whichis formed at the hinge pin, wherein the radially projecting collar fitsover the open end side of said gudgeon of the second hinge wing.
 12. Themotor vehicle door brake according to claim 11, further comprising asealing washer which is inserted between said radially projecting collarand the open end side of said gudgeon of the second hinge wing.
 13. Themotor vehicle door brake according to claim 11, further comprising aone-off lifetime lubrication, said lubrication being provided to saidgudgeon of the second hinge wing.
 14. The motor vehicle door brakeaccording to claim 1, further comprising a gudgeon of said first hingewing, said gudgeon having a hood-like design and holding an associatedlongitudinal section of the hinge pin, serrations provided each at saidgudgeon of the first hinge wing and at the associated longitudinalsection of the hinge pin, a screw, wherein said hinge pin and said firsthinge wing are connected in a rotationally secure manner by means ofsaid serrations, and wherein said screw reaches through an end wall ofsaid gudgeon of said first hinge wing and keeps said serrations inengagement.